John Edwards

[Suburbia]

If John Edwards did not act in unfaithful and damaging ways towards his family, and still make a respectable showing in the 2008 Democratic primaries; Edwards could have been a 2020 contender against Trump.

He was the populist Democrats were looking for.

Edwards also called Fox a right wing propaganda outfit in 2007 and boycotted Fox appearances.

Stupid guy.

Would it have been his time in 2020?

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/us/politics/08edwards.html?ref=politics&mtrref=en.wikipedia.org&gwh=87AFF82FE5B969A46C2631D9A63EF2C2&gwt=pay&assetType=PAYWALL

[morgankingsley]

Even if he didn't make those mistakes, I think he would still not have a chance

[Continential]

He may have won Iowa and may have took the populist bits of Obama's base and some southern parts of Clinton's base.

[NeverAgainsSock]

I don't know of any decade-plus old "also-ran" who has even gotten close to a nomination. Even without the scandals, he'd be DOA.

[Agonized-Statism]

In an alternate universe where he never had his scandal, I think he could have had the biggest landslide of the 2008 candidates. Definitely the odd man out of his time. Populism was as dead in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 as neoconservatism is today.

But in 2020? Sure, Democrats are trying really hard to seem folksy now, but it's paired with the Kerry kind of smug cosmopolitanism that ultimately takes precedence. I just don't see him fitting in with the modern party.

[538Electoral]

His time would've already passed even without scandal.

[Alben Barkley]

In an alternate universe where he never had his scandal, I think he could have had the biggest landslide of the 2008 candidates. Definitely the odd man out of his time. Populism was as dead in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 as neoconservatism is today.

But in 2020? Sure, Democrats are trying really hard to seem folksy now, but it's paired with the Kerry kind of smug cosmopolitanism that ultimately takes precedence. I just don't see him fitting in with the modern party.

That's what's interesting about Warren -- she is like the personification of that weird mix of "folksiness" and "cosmopolitanism" that defines the Democratic Party today. How could you do that better than being born and raised in Oklahoma yet representing Massachusetts, being a populist on the one hand and someone palatable to party elites on the other? I don't think you could create an individual who better epitomizes the word "Democrat" today in a lab if you tried. Which is part of why I suspect she'll ultimately get the nomination. She's just closer to where the party is at right now than anyone else.

[SInNYC]

I considered Edwards an opportunist, not a populist. Iowans probably agreed with me for the most part, since the parts of IA he won in 2008 were the conservative parts. Yes, he was popular in parts of the blogdom that considered themselves left, but that didn't carry to voters in general.

Also, for him to have run for 2020, he would have had to stay relevant, and there is no telling what positions he would have taken to do that.

[Agonized-Statism]

In an alternate universe where he never had his scandal, I think he could have had the biggest landslide of the 2008 candidates. Definitely the odd man out of his time. Populism was as dead in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 as neoconservatism is today.

But in 2020? Sure, Democrats are trying really hard to seem folksy now, but it's paired with the Kerry kind of smug cosmopolitanism that ultimately takes precedence. I just don't see him fitting in with the modern party.

That's what's interesting about Warren -- she is like the personification of that weird mix of "folksiness" and "cosmopolitanism" that defines the Democratic Party today. How could you do that better than being born and raised in Oklahoma yet representing Massachusetts, being a populist on the one hand and someone palatable to party elites on the other? I don't think you could create an individual who better epitomizes the word "Democrat" today in a lab if you tried. Which is part of why I suspect she'll ultimately get the nomination. She's just closer to where the party is at right now than anyone else.

You know, I don't think the folksiness part is very genuine, because it's always this awkward, shaky, "I-I will go grab a beer" or something like that. Which is alright, I'm not very folksy either. I'm sure voters don't mind. I'm sure she connects with working class Democrats because her policies seem to be geared toward them, and I'm aware that she was financially struggling as a kid. No arguments there. What seems to be of-the-people to one person might be different for another. But what really gets me is the fact that I, a Mexican-American and descendent of Moctezuma himself, am struggling to pay for my education while this old, privileged white woman got in pretending to be brown. It may not bother white people. I get how that could be overlooked. But what do I know? You're the boss, mighty whitey. Please, reply with the usual copy-paste "go to a mental health clinic" thing you post on every thread to people you disagree with (which, by the way, is very ableist). I'll totally excuse her behavior and won't let it affect my perception of her character at all.

[Sir Mohamed]

LOL, the dude hasn't held public office since 2005, after being a 1-term senator. He would be at 1% if he ran.

[Heebie Jeebie]

Alternative history:  Without the scandal, Edwards would have gotten a position in the Obama administration, probably a lower level cabinet position like Commerce Secretary.  Edwards and not Cooper would have been the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 2016, and as governor Edwards would have immediately begun positioning himself for another presidential run in 2020.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Edwards was the star of the Dem party. Warner, Kaine, Sherrod Brown eclipsed him as the moderate male in the party. After, the sex scandal, Dems didnt need him anymore

[GeneralMacArthur]

Even after the scandal happened, Edwards was still delusional enough to try to haggle his endorsement for a VP spot, or at least AG.  He would've found some way to fail upwards after the race.  I don't know that he ever had enough people who really truly loved him to be a contender against Hillary in 2016 though.

[President Johnson]

And John Kerry is reporting for duty in 2024.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

Going into 2008, I thought John Edwards the strongest Democrat to run.  I thought Edwards the strongest Democrat in 2004, going into it.

In retrospect, I was probably wrong.  Scandal aside, Edwards had a creepy side to him that turned people off.  A certain amount of that was some of the macabre sentiments he felt regarding his son Wade's death, which was not his fault, but was something that creeped John Kerry out.  (Kerry expressed regret that he picked Edwards after the fact.)  That he was a martial cheat on a loyal wife who had cancer was creepy, and that he had an affair and a child with a New Age type was creepy as well (at least to some people), but he'd have had the creepy side regardless of whether or not these things happen.

The other off-putting thing about Edwards was that he came off as a phony.  I remember watching the VP debate, thinking that Edwards would have trashed Cheney, but by the end of the debate, I thought that Cheney actually got the better of him.  Cheney came off decisive and genuine (even if he was a genuine neocon warmonger) whereas  Edwards came off a bit weak in the end.  (I actually think Cheney would have been a strong candidate in 2008 if he had not needed a heart transplant.) 

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

Going into 2008, I thought John Edwards the strongest Democrat to run.  I thought Edwards the strongest Democrat in 2004, going into it.

In retrospect, I was probably wrong.  Scandal aside, Edwards had a creepy side to him that turned people off.  A certain amount of that was some of the macabre sentiments he felt regarding his son Wade's death, which was not his fault, but was something that creeped John Kerry out.  (Kerry expressed regret that he picked Edwards after the fact.)  That he was a martial cheat on a loyal wife who had cancer was creepy, and that he had an affair and a child with a New Age type was creepy as well (at least to some people), but he'd have had the creepy side regardless of whether or not these things happen.

The other off-putting thing about Edwards was that he came off as a phony.  I remember watching the VP debate, thinking that Edwards would have trashed Cheney, but by the end of the debate, I thought that Cheney actually got the better of him.  Cheney came off decisive and genuine (even if he was a genuine neocon warmonger) whereas  Edwards came off a bit weak in the end.  (I actually think Cheney would have been a strong candidate in 2008 if he had not needed a heart transplant.) 

Are you sure? Cheney is policy guru with decades of Washington experience, and Edwards is... what he is.

I mean, Cheney's an evil genius, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't want to face him in any kind of debate setting.

[The Houstonian]

By 2020, he would have been out of office for 15 years. How could he have managed to stay politically relevant under those circumstances?

[jmsstnyng]

I was just getting into politics in 2008, but I remember thinking Edwards came off as a stereotypical politician. He seemed quite phony to my 16/17 year old self. Scandals aside, I see Edwards the same way I see Newsom. I do not get the hype, and they come off as a fake, elitist people.